[SoNE Freebuild] 8.1 - The Wastelands of Aquilae

[goatman461]

Immediately after

[soNE Freebuild] 7.4 Off the Books

Goatm and his nurse disembarked the Imperial freighter both with their respective roles. Amid the constant noise and bustle of the docks Goatm would dicker out deals with the local merchants for the sale of the white saplings, so precious to the nobility of Aquilae. Many of the interested merchants were developers for high-end shops and personal landscapers for the elites; they paid little attention to Goatm other than to ask him when he would be returning with more and to schmooze him for the purpose of some future economic familiarity. Goatm had stayed in his Imperial white for this very reason; the merchants only saw a faceless officer rather than the dead man Goatm intended to keep hidden.

Just as the last sapling was sold, Goatm called his enslaved Wookiee from the cockpit to inspect the freighter’s hull before takeoff. Shock and awe echoed across the dock as the merchants and tradesmen alike caught sight of the beast. The Empire had been especially jealous of its new species of slave and few had surfaced in the legal market.

Meanwhile, after downloading the local Imperial intelligence reports on Aquilae, the nurse went about acquiring civilian clothes for the two ISB agents. Goatm had given her strict instructions to start at the shops outside the Imperial outpost and work her way across town, stopping at the stores of ever lowering levels of economic strife. Ideally, her effort would allow her to disappear with no one noticing the Imperial officer that traded in her illustrious uniform for peasant rags.

Goatm’s refusal to sell or trade the Wookiee led to the high-end restaurant overlooking the dock where the merchants continued to hound him and liquor him up. Eventually Goatm found his mark. A flamboyant Ithorian strutted across the dock with a Kowakian perched on his back. He was inspecting a shipment of mining equipment aboard a large freighter and savagely berating the crew for some minor infraction.

It wasn’t long before Goatm and the Ithorian –Ng’Ray Sti a mining entrepreneur, surveyor, and equipment supplier– were leaving the restaurant to discuss the Wookiee’s ownership on their way to Gordon –a dubious spaceport far from the capital. There, Goatm would rendezvous with the nurse, take on the new identity she prepared for him, and sell the Imperial freighter to a chop shop. Goatm had exchanged the Wookiee and their remaining cash for Ng’Ray’s stock of mining equipment and a one-way, no-questions-asked ride into the wasteland of Aquilae.

The wastelands were known to the locals as barren, toxic, and completely devoid of life, but Goatm had suspicions to the contrary. He remembered his mother recounting the countless green hills under the beautiful green sky of Aquilae where she would play as a young princess. Imperial maps noted many long and entangled canals that led to hundreds of reservoirs far from the city, but only grey wasteland could be seen from above on the rare occasion that the pale green overcast lifted. The city-dwellers didn’t dare to test the longevity of their breathers outside the tall city walls and told horror stories of the deadly gas pockets and nocturnal predators of the wasteland. Something was amiss.

To test his theory Goatm and the nurse set out with the flamboyant Ithorian surveyor for the reservoirs hidden in the Aquilae wasteland. Ng’Ray’s ship stays low across the grey, endless plains, avoiding any possible detection along the way. Hours later they drop into a valley to find a bright blue reservoir surrounded by deep green grasses and piercing white flowers. Goatm lowers the cargo door, clipping the canopy of the low lying trees, and the nurse leaps into the canal below. Ng’Ray, rattled by the unexpected departure, screams over the internal comm for Goatm to explain but realizes his radios are dead. Goatm is gone, already tumbling through the thick grass as the Ithorian hears a deep growl from the cargo bay below.

[soNE Freebuild] 8.1 Escape to the Wastlands of Aquilae 2 by goatman461, on Flickr

[soNE Freebuild] 8.1 Escape to the Wastlands of Aquilae by goatman461, on Flickr

“I guess you were right about the reservoirs, but who’s going to check the air first? Our ride just crashed into the cliff side.”

“I was actually wrong about the reservoirs. Look; the water is flowing FROM the city; these valleys are being irrigated, not consumed.

“As for the air, well, if he made it, the Wookiee will test out the air first. But that’ll mean we’ll have bigger problems… Ever been hunted by a Wookiee?”

(To be continued…)

[soNE Freebuild] 8.1 Stingray by

goatman461, on Flickr

Please judge, comment, and criticize. Thanks in advance.

Edited March 6, 2015 by goatman461

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Wow! Great ship and good landscape.

[Kodan Black]

I love the foliage, water and forced perspective. I've been waiting for the continuation of your story! You have some great action shots with the ship. My one issue with the ship is the size. It doesn't seem big enough to hold 2 humans and a wookie in the cargo hold. Typically you wouldn't have cargo on the ramp, so if you look at the size of the ramp that cargo hold would be more Yoda sized than Chewbacca sized. I like the shape of the ship, it really conjures an image of its namesake. I just wish it was maybe 33% bigger.

I also love the callback to last episode with the hammer. And the story continues to be compelling and leaving me wanting to know more! I think you did a great job making the limited color palette work and complement each other.

[LittleJohn]

Excellent build! I really like the foliage

[James Wellington]

Very nice! I guess this is the first freebuild of the new episode. I love the ship. Great work! :thumbup:

[Tariq j]

As always a great build, the landscape is fantastic and really compliments the scene well. The ship is also very well done

[LegoAcklay]

Wow that's amazing! I really like the movement in the scene.

[LucasLaughing]

You've really got a knack for ship building - first that freighter and now this sweet ride - I like it!

Great forced perspective too - that's something I've been wanting to tackle in one of my freebuilds, but haven't had a way to fit in yet.

[goatman461]

Sorry it took me so long to reply... thank you for the comments.

It doesn't seem big enough to hold 2 humans and a wookie in the cargo hold.

It's actually got a bit more junk-in-the-trunk than you can see here, but it was cramped. The Wookiee would have to be laying flat in a cargo hold and Goatm and his nurse would be sitting almost on the ramp, right next to the Wookiee. The Wookiee would be able to pull the Ithorian down from the pilot seat from below, but may not be able to take the controls to pilot very quickly.

[MKJoshA]

The ship is amazing. Your fig posing when your sigfig is jumping out of the cargo hold is incredible. Your story is stellar! Great work!

[Shadows of Nar Eurbrikka]

Judges have awarded you 4 XP!